Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Our holiday was very simple this year. We spent most of the day in our jammies, playing with our new toys and watching the Disney parade on tv. Nothing exciting which is exactly how I like my holidays.

The following are some pictures from our day. Excuse our very laid back appearance. We really aren’t fancy folk. Heck, we still have pumpkins out from Thanksgiving. Martha Stewart I am not.

This is a picture of my kids looking glum over my torturous holiday tradition of making them wait until after a homemade breakfast before they can open their gifts. They don’t much appreciate this tradition. They’ll get it in about twenty years when they have their own kids.

Comments

I’m with your kids. I’m 30, so in the mid-way range, but making them wait until after breakfast is torture! We eat casseroles that are prepped the night before and cook while we’re opening presents. 🙂

Glad it was a calm day. We had a nice one, too. Nice and calm, just the way I like it. I think it’s about to be an early bedtime for me. I need to hit the after Christmas clearance at Target before work tomorrow after all… then I’m staying out of the stores until March. I hope.

Glad to hear your family had a nice Christmas!
We to have very low key Christmas every year. We started having them on my son’s SECOND Christmas. The first was so hectic! We made the mistake of trying to do everything! I told my husband that I hoped he enjoyed it ’cause it would be the LAST time we did that. I have learned to say no. No to going to EVERY party. No to EVERY pageant, play, concert, etc. And mostly no to buying every single thing for my kids. My mother in law is very generous in the form of a check for each one of us. I use it to make certain to only buy a few things that they will REALLY like. And they do enjoy every single gift they receive. As a matter of fact, both of my kids were playing with their gifts from last Christmas on this Christmas eve. They love them and I am so happy to know that I’m not just throwing money/toys/gifts their way to fill under the tree. I do hope they’re learning about quality over quantity. AND that there is more to Christmas than just gifts and craziness.

Yes, quality over quantity. I love that. We spent a lot less this year on gifts. Last year when we could barely see the tree around the piles of gifts, I felt convicted to make a change. One big gift per kid and a few smaller ones plus the stocking. More than enough. I’m glad you had a happy holiday. 🙂

The kids are older so I had a slow start this morning and had cinnamon rolls and coffee before the first sign of a child. Quiet and very laid back day here too. I’m glad you had an enjoyable day with your family and that everyone was healthy.

Nothing fancy here either. I call anything besides dress-up clothes or even jeans, my “comfies.” And that’s exactly the way we were all day…comfy. We ate lots and lots and enjoyed each other…the perfect Christmas in my book. Kids played, husband and I laughed and talked with them. And now it’s sleep time because it’s been a long day. Glad you had a nice day and I wish you and your family nothing but all good things in 2013 as well.

Yeah, that Target clearance is a pretty powerful motivator. 🙂 I found a few things there that I will share with you later tonight. I just couldn’t resist! Hopefully your cold will subside soon. Sending you healing thoughts!

We spent Christmas day in our pajamas 🙂 Most of the time we were all in the same room, eating, playing with new toys, on computers, watching Christmas movies, reading, etc. It was fabulous. I think they would mutiny if I tried to make them wait till after breakfast though :p

Jammies rock. Actually, I was up until 1am on Christmas Eve making the quiche so that it just had to be heated in the morning. The only thing that had to be truly cooked was the cinnamon rolls. We were eating by 9:15 which I think is entirely reasonable. I guess I should’ve made that a little more clear in my post, lol.

Merry Christmas! We too had a much needed laid back day. Looks like your girls got American Girl dolls too. My daughter was beside herself when she opened hers! I was a bit disappointed though because the dolls hair was really messed up and tangled. Oh well, at least it was a hell of a deal!

Did you get the Today Show deal too? I about fell off my couch when I saw that. Marie Grace was Leela’s #1 gift choice and to get it for $50 was incredible!!!! I’m sorry her hair was messy. That’s a bummer. Shannon’s doll came with curls which she promptly brushed out and turned into a fro. Sigh.

I learned from my father’s forcing breakfast on us at Christmas that it was cruel. My children were allowed to unwrap presents and eat candy to their heart’s content. It made for a much more pleasant experience for my children. I never could understand the point of a healthy breakfast when there was pumpkin pie andchocolate and food all over, just forbidden. It’s Christmas.

Your Christmas sounds like a delight. Christmas eve morning we to drove from upstate NY to NJ (3 hrs.) Spent the evening with my husband’s family. Christmas morn back upstate to my sister’s and brother in laws family (2hrs) at which point my children and son’s girlfriend met up with us. After an hour drive, we finally arrived back home at 7pm to open our gifts with the kids. My son and girlfriend stayed for 3 hours talking with us. No TV, just talk. As hectic as it is, we have a good time because we get to spend time with all of our family.
PS: I love your son’s hat. Is it Martin the martian?

This is tardy, but Merry Christmas to you and Happy New Year, I love your annual picture with the kids waiting on the steps. Tradition is where you make it. The day will come when they miss it. With my daughter’s birthday on December 28, I am just now coming up for air myself and nary an egg to my name in this house so I am now wondering what to do for breakfast tomorrow. I also have my pumpkins out. One of these days I might bake and purée them. Maybe.